Package



T. J. PAISLEY June 28, 1966 PACKAGE 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Original Filed Aug.9, 1962 INVENTOR.

THOMAS J. PAISLEY AT TORNE Y June 28, 1966 -r. J. PAISLEY 3,258,169

PACKAGE Original Filed Aug. 9, 1962 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG.7 FIG.6

INVENTOR. F I 8 THOMAS J. PAISLEY ATTORNEY T. J. PAISLEY June 28, 1966PACKAGE 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Original Filed Aug. 9, 1962 lll INVENTOR.THOMAS J. PAISLEY ATTORNEY June 28, 1966 Original Filed Aug. 9, 1962FIG. I!

INVENTOR. THOMAS J. PAISLE Y AT TORNE Y -VIIIIIIA p.

T. J. PAISLEY June 28, 1966 PACKAGE 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Original Filed Aug.9, 1962 FIG. I4

INVENTOR. THOMAS J. PA/SLEY BY ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,258,169PACKAGE Thomas J. Paisley, Medina, Ohio, The Old Phoenix National Bankof Medina, Ohio, executor of the estate of said Paisley, deceased,assignor to The T. J. Paisley Company, Medina, Ohio, a corporation ofOhio Original application Aug. 9, 1962, Ser. No. 215,882. Divided andthis application July 23, 1965, Ser.

4 Claims. (31. 222 1o7 This application is a division of my applicationSerial No. 215,882 filed August 9, 1962.

This invention relates to a package of pourable granul ar material whichmay be of powder fineness or somewhat larger, in a flexible container.The container is provided with one or more perforations for dispensingthe granular material, and these are covered by a tab adhered to thecontainer with pressure-sensitive adhesive. The tab can be removed fordispensing the contents of the container through the one or moreperforations, and may be re-adhered to the container and removed againfrom time to time as required, until the container is empty.

The container is usually small, measuring no more than several inches ineach direction, and is designed for various uses. For example, it may beused in give-away packages, such as samples of soaps, detergents,cleaning materials, etc, or foodstuffs such as seasoning materials,ground nut meats, etc. Also it may be used for packages of materialswhich are offered for sale, such as medicines, food-coloring anddecorating materials, etc. It may be used for packaging materials all ofwhich are to be used at one time such as, for example, sugar or the likeplaced on customers trays at restaurants, etc., or for materials only apart of which is to be used at one time-the tab to be replaced aftereach such use until the package is empty. It is to be understood thatthe container is flexible and suitabl for packaging any granularmaterial capable of being dispensed through a shaker opening, whether insmall amounts from time to time or all at once, and the composition ofthe packaging material, the size of the package and the size and numberof openings for dispensing the material are dictated by all of thecircumstances.

The package is relatively fl-at, being made from an envelope orpillow-like container, and is generally rectangular in outline althoughthe seals across the top and bottom of the pillow-like container may beperfectly straight or they may be plicated. The number and size of theperforations and their arrangement is not critical. If the contents ofthe package are to be spread over a wide area, the one or moreperforations may be arranged in an elongated area. Ordinarily, however,they will be gathered together in a small area so as to deliver aconcentrated stream of the packaged material. The tab may be of anydesired shape. It may be of any desired color and may bear any desiredinsignia. Pressure-sensitive adhesive may cover all of one surface ofthe tab or only the rim of the tab may be covered with adhesive so thatthe adhesive does not come directly in contact with the contents of thepackage.

As will be evident to the man skilled in the art, the equipmentnecessary for perforating and placing a tab on a package is readilyadapted to known packaging equipment, and because the essentialelements, and to some extent the combinations of elements of thepackaging equipment, are of types Well known, the equipment is shownsomewhat diagrammatically. The device for applying the tabs may be thatused for applying price tabs to imperforate containers or packages. Anysuitable equipment for coordinating the various operations can be used.

3,258,169 Patented June 28, 1966 The invention is illustrated in theaccompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a diagrammatic showing of the equipment for making anenvelope package;

FIGURE 2 is a view of the finished package made by such equipment;

FIGURE 3 is a back view of a tab covered with pressure-sensitiveadhesive;

FIGURE 4 is a back view of a tab in which only the rim is covered withpressure-sensitive adhesive;

FIGURE 5 is a section on the lines 5-5 of FIGURES 1 and 8 showing themeans for perforating the envelopes;

FIGURE 6 is an end view of the perforating die on the line 66 of FIGURE5;

FIGURE 7 is the end view of an alternative perforating die;

FIGURE 8 is a plan view of the equipment shown in FIGURE 5;

FIGURE 9 is .a side view of the tab-applying equipment;

FIGURE 10 is a side elevation of part of the same on the line 1010 ofFIGURE 9;

FIGURE 11 is .a diagrammatic view of equipment for perforating andapplying tabs to film, subsequently forming this film into a tube,filling a granular material into the bottom of the same, and thensealing and cutting the tube into filled pillow-like containers;

FIGURE 12 is a view in perspective of the finished package produced onthe equipment illustrated in FIG- URE 11;

FIGURE 13 is a section, on an enlarged scale, on the line 1313 of FIGURE12; and

FIGURE 14 is a diagrammatic view of means for producing containers fromtwo sheets of film and filling the same.

The roll stock from which the containers are made will be referred toherein as heat-scalable flexible packaging material, usually being afilm laminate, although it may be a coated cellulosic paper, film, foilor the like, one surface of the material (whether a laminate or a coatedsheet) being heat scalable so that by the application of heat andpressure two surfaces can be united both in forming the container andalso in the final sealing of the package.

FIGURE 1 illustrates one form of usual equipment for the manufacture ofenvelope containers and filling and sealing the same. The packagingmaterial may, for example, be foil, paper, cellophane, etc. to which aheatsealable material (for example, polyethylene, rubber hydrochloride,etc.) has been laminated. Taken from the roll 1, it is doubled overaround the plate 2 with the heatsealable surfaces adjacent each other,and the resulting opposite halves of the sheet are brought together bythe rollers 3 which form a crease down the middle of the sheet. Therollers 5 apply pressure to the opposite surfaces of the folded sheetand by rotating intermittently impart an intermittent motion to thefolded sheet which is controlled by the electric eye 6 in conjunctionwith the registering mark (not shown) on the sheet. Thus, as the sheetis moved from left to right it stops long enough at the differentstations for completion of the different operations which will not bedescribed.

At the first station the perforations 10 are formed by the cutterprojections 11 (FIGURE 5) on the die head which is moved through andthen away from the folded sheet 12 by the air cylinder 13 as theopposite halves of the sheet pass over the plate 14 which is providedwith perforations 15 to receive the projections 11. The cutouts fall tothe bottom of the recess 16 and are removed by vacuum through the pipe17. The reciprocation of the die is coordinated with the movement of thesheet,

3 so that each time it comes to a stop, a new set of perforations ispunched into it.

The arrangement of the perforations is not critical. FIGURE 7 shows adie head with projections 11' arranged somewhat differently from thosein the other figures.

At a subsequent station (reached the second time the sheet stops, asdepicted in the drawing) each series of perforations is covered with atab 20. One entire surface of this tab 20 is covered withpressure-sensitive adhesive (FIGURE 3). Alternatively (FIGURE 4) onlythe rim of the tab is covered with the adhesive so that it does not comeinto contact with the contents of the package. FIG- URES 9 and 10 showsdiagrammatically the use of standard labeling equipment for thispurpose. The plunger 21 is covered with a sponge 22. Each time themovement of the folded sheet 12 is interrupted, the plunger is movedtoward it by the air cylinder 23. The tabs are adhered to the waxedpaper strip 24 on the roll 25 by the pressuresensitive adhesive. Thewaxed paper is bent sharply back over the blade 26, and just prior toeach interruption of movement of the sheet 12, the waxed paper isadvanced toward the wind-up roll 27 just the distance to bring a new tab20 into the path of the plunger. As the strip 24 is flexed back over theblade, the tabs (which are relatively stiff) tend to move forward andare separated almost entirely from the strip 24, but not entirely, andwhen each movement of the strip 24 is ended a new tab is brought intothe path of the plunger as best illustrated in FIGURE 9. When theplunger is actuated it removes the strip 24 from the strip of waxedpaper and presses it over the perforations It) with the side covered bythe pressuresensitive adhesive forward, and with sufiicient pressure toadhere the tab over the perforations. The back-up plate 28 holds thesheet in position.

At a subsequent station the heated bar 30 and a similar bar on theopposite side of the doubled-over sheet are brought together producing anarrow seal 31 across the bottom of the envelope. This seal is notnecessary but assists in producing a fiat package. In this envelope-typeof package it is desirable to have the contents spread more or lessuniformly over the entire inside area of the package rather than to haveit bulked at the bottom or any other one place, and this seal across thebottom of the envelope assist in this. Less room is required forpackaging a number of such fiat packages Within a container than wouldbe required for packages in which the contents are all bulked in onepart of the package.

At a subsequent station cross seams 34 are formed between the innersurfaces of the folded sheet 12 by the heated bars 35 which are pressedagainst opposite sides of the folded sheet. It is noted that these barsdo not extend to the top edge of the package. The reason for this willbe explained in what follows.

After the folded sheet 12 has passed between the rollers 5 it comes to astation at which the knives cut the continuous sheet into individualpackages. These knife blades 40 cut the long sheet in the middle of theseals 34, along the lines 42, into individual packages 43. These aresupported by means (not shown).

Although the containers are now separated from one another, they arestiif enough so that they are retained in line with suitable guides (notshown). The cuts 42 are at the centers of the seals 34 so that eachpackage is sealed together along each edge (FIGURE 2) The seals 34 donot come to the top of the package, so that as the packages are movedalong under the separator 45 their tops are opened. Air introducedthrough the pipe 46 spreads the envelopes and each is filled with ameasured amount of material from the hopper 47. The air exhaust 48removes displaced air from the packages and tends to bring the walls ofthe package together. At a subsequent station the plates 50 are movedtoward one another and this distributes the contents of the packagerelatively uniformly throughout the entire interior of the container. Ata sub-sequent station the sealing bars 53 are brought together to sealthe tops of the envelopes.

Although in the foregoing we have referred only to the various elementsbeing brought together at the different stations, it is clear thatbefore the packaging material 12 is again put into motion the elementsat each station must be separated to permit movement of the containermaterial 12.

The finished package is then generally put into a carton manually orautomatically together with many other identical packages.

When the package reaches the ultimate consumer the tab is easilyremoved. The contents of the package are then delivered through theperforations. If only a part of the contents are utilized, the tab maybe replaced until it is desired to remove more of the contents from thepackage.

FIGURE 11 shows diagrammatically, equipment for taking the sheet fromthe roll 52 and forming it into the tube 53 around the discharge chute54 from the hopper 55. The two edges of the sheet are sealed by the heatsealer 56 to form the seal 57.

Between the roll 52 and the tube'forming means the sheet is perforatedand the tabs are applied by means such as described. As the sheet passesover support 60 it is perforated by a die located within the housing 61,reciprocated by the air cylinder 62. The cut-outs are collected in thereceiver 63, and disposed of from time to time. Next the tabs areremoved from the roll 64 of waxed paper and placed over the perforationsby means such as shown in FIGURES 9-10, as the sheet passes under theback-up plate 65. The various operations are coordinated by suitablemeans controlled by an electric eye (not shown) by means of someregistering mark on the sheet.

The delivery of the contents of the hopper is controlled by the valvemechanism 66 which discharges a measured amount of the material from thehopper through the tube 54. The operation of valve means and the cut-offand sealing means 67 are coordinated with the intermittent delivery ofthe sheet so that parallel heated sealing bars in the means 67 arebrought together to seal the two surfaces of the sheet together in astraight line above each charge of material delivered through chute 54,to seal off the tube above each charge and form a bottom in the tube toreceive a fresh charge. After each sealing operation the cut-off knifeseparates the completed pillow-type package from the bottom of the tube,and the tube is shifted down to position the next seal at the knife toproduce a new package. Means for movingthe packaging material from theroll and over the chute 54 in intermittent fashion is enclosed withinthe mechanism 67 or separately provided, and the diiferent operationsare coordinated by any suitable means (not shown) so that each packageis perforated and tabbed.

The finished package is shown in FIGURE 12. The tabs 70 cover theperforations 71. Instead of the seams 78 and 79 being perfectly fiat,the ends may be plicated by well known mechanism before the heat sealersare brought into contact with the sheet. Each such pillow package isadvantageously packaged individually in a suitable cardboard container.

FIGURE 14 shows diagrammatically mechanism for forming envelope-typecontainers from two separate sheets. A wide sheet is delivered from theroll 80 and is cut by the knife 81 into two parts82 and 83. Each ofthese parts is then cut into the two halves 84, and 85, 84' and 85' bythe knives 86. The respective final halves are then brought down underguide bars 87 and over guide bars 88, and then with the heat-scalablesurfaces of the two halves facing one another they are fed into thesealing and feeding mechanism enclosed in the box 89. The material to bepackaged is fed in increments through the pipe 90. Means for sealing theedges and bottoms of the separate sheets is known, as well as mechanismfor conveying these envelopes under the feed supply 90. Then the tops ofthe envelopes are sealed by known means.

The intermittent movement of the sheet is controlled by the electric eye92 which is focused on a registering mark (not shown) on the sheet, sothat the sheet is brought to rest in accurate position at each of theseveral stations. The two sheets 84 and 85 are perforated by die means92 while on suitable support means (not shown), and then separate waxedpaper strips 94 with the tabs 95 aflixed are brought under the separatesheets and the tabs are released and transferred to the sheets 84 and 85by means such as previously shown and described. (The waste waxed paperfrom which the tabs have been removed is not shown.)

The equipment and processes, as well as the various packages shown anddescribed in greater detail, are illustrative. The invention is coveredin the claims which follow.

What I claim is:

1. A package which consists of a pourable granular material in 1aflexible container composed entirely of flexible heat-sealable packagingsheet material with surfaces thereof adhered to one another by heatseals only, a tab adhered to a relatively small area only thereof bypressuresensitive adhesive, and in said small area at least oneperforation forming a shaker outlet for the granular material.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,147,349 2/1939Piquerez 222 1o7 2,371,521 3/1945 Heywood et a1. 222-107 2,878,9673/1959 Duke 222-107 FOREIGN PATENTS "613,023 1/1961 Canada.

ROBERT B. REEVES, Primary Examiner.

HADD S. LANE, Examiner.

1. A PACKAGE WHICH CONSISTS OF A POURABLE GRANULAR MATERIAL IN AFLEXIBLE CONTAINER COMPOSED ENTIRELY OF FLEXIBLE HEAT-SEALABLE PACKAGINGSHEET MATERIAL WITH SURFACES THEREOF ADHERED TO ONE ANOTHER BY HEATSEALS ONLY, A TAB ADHERED TO A RELATIVELY SMALL AREA ONLY THEREOF BYPRESSURESENSITIVE ADHESIVE, AND IN SAID SMALL AREA AT LEAST ONEPERFORATION FORMING A SHAKER OUTLET FOR THE GRANULAR MATERIAL.